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Call them over-achievers. Call them accomplished. Whatever the label, the fact is the incoming class at ���Ҵ�ý is uncommonly competitive.

The 49 undergraduates and 77 graduate students now headed to ���Ҵ�ý didn’t just edge out some 1,000 applicants in an intensely competitive admissions process. Many also have edged out their peers on the world stage, winning major solo and ensemble contests around the globe.

“It’s hard to stand out at the top, but this class does exactly that,” said Dean Southern, Vice President and Dean of Academic and Student Affairs at ���Ҵ�ý. “Their incredible achievements prove these young artists have the drive, talent and commitment to succeed at ���Ҵ�ý and take their place at the vanguard of classical music.”

A list of competitions won by ���Ҵ�ý’s incoming students would exceed the scope of this release. Suffice to say, this class is a musical force to be reckoned with.  

In their midst when they arrive in Cleveland in late August will be award-winning pianists, including first prize winners of the Steinway Piano Competition, Salzburg International Piano Competition and Liszt International Youth Piano Competition. Most, it’s worth noting, won these and other contests under trying circumstances, during a pandemic. 

No less distinguished will be the string players, whose ranks include victors in some of the world’s highest-profile contests for young artists, including the International Brahms Competition, Hartt Chamber Music Competition and Melbourne International Piano and Strings Festival Competition. Also in this class are the winner of the New York Flute Club Young Musicians Contest and a voice champion from the Prokofiev International Music Competition.

“Auditions this year were as high-level as I’ve ever known,” said ���Ҵ�ý violin faculty Ilya Kaler, himself the only artist to have won gold at the International Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Paganini Competitions. “The students joining my studio are starting from a position of tremendous strength. They’ve accomplished many great things already, and they’re still full of promise.”

Medals, of course, aren’t all that distinguish ���Ҵ�ý’s incoming students. This group also ranks as one of ���Ҵ�ý’s most diverse and experienced incoming classes, boasting performances at major venues including Carnegie and Disney Halls and appearances with the orchestras of Kansas City, Cincinnati and Chicago, among many others.

Fittingly for a top conservatory, competition for admission was fierce, and the resultant class is small. Only 12 percent of more than 1,000 applicants will be on campus in 2022-23. Of those students, however, virtually all merited a scholarship and 19 earned full-tuition scholarships.

The 2022-23 class also exemplifies racial diversity, in keeping with ���Ҵ�ý’s commitment to build a more equitable and inclusive future for classical music. Fourteen percent of incoming students identify as Black or Latino/Latina. Many of those have worked with the Sphinx Organization, the Detroit-based ���Ҵ�ý partner advancing minority musicians. ���Ҵ�ý itself remains a national leader in diversity, attracting and graduating more students who look like the community it serves.

Some 30 percent, meanwhile – more than in several recent years – are international. If the incoming class had a single passport, that book would contain stamps from 14 countries including Costa Rica, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Serbia, Spain, South Korea and Turkey.

“This is another example of ���Ҵ�ý’s ability to attract top-flight talent,” said Southern. “We are extremely eager to see what this remarkable class has in store, this year and beyond.”